Simple Guide To Staying Fit After 40

L
ife, they say, begins at forty.
What is not usually said is the
fact that the way your body
functions radically starts to
change from around age forty, and the
standard diet and exercise regimen and
advice that you followed in your twen-
ties and thirties may no longer work
for your body.
So what to do? How do you stay fit
after forty? Here’s how:
The very basic things you need
to know
Recent research shows that quick
bursts of high intensity workout and
training are beneficial to the human
body as it ages. In fact, sharp short
shocks to your forty-year-old body
rather than long, drawn out shocks is
the very best way to ensure that it is fit
and toned.
This means that whatever you do,
make sure that you exercise for less
time than you did in your 30s but with
greater intensity.
The second basic thing that you need
to know that your diet has to be care-
fully chosen, as it takes the right mix of
healthy diet and a great exercise plan to
keep your body fit and ready to take on
the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Here’s the guideline for main-
taining a fit over 40 body
Go for high-intensity interval train-
ing: High-intensity interval training
(abbreviated as HIIT) is extremely
beneficial as we age because it pro-
duces changes at a cellular and ge-
netic level. A recent 12-week study
by Sreekumaran Nair, an endocrinol-
ogist and a professor of medicine at
the Mayo Clinic reveals that effects of
HIIT-style workouts were more pro-
nounced in participants over the age
of 64, improving activity in almost
400 genes of their genes. Meanwhile,
similar changes occurred in 19 genes
of the moderate trainers. There was
also a distinct increase in the number
as well as the health of mitochondria
in the older HIIT group, meaning
that their cells responded better to the
training effects than those of younger
participants. What this means is that
the focus of your exercise needs to
change as you age. Replace long hours
at the gym, running or cycling with
short, sharp bursts of HIIT instead.
A great example of a HIIT exercise is
HIIT squats.
Add weight training to your exercise
regimen: Weight lifting and strength
training helps to transform the en-
tire body by aiding in calorie and fat
burning, improving the body’s metab-
olism, lessening the risk of injuries,
preventing or stopping muscle loss,
boosting energy levels, keeping the
heart protected and giving great pos-
ture. Weight lifting is also incredibly
important as we age because it helps
in the relieving of stress, reduces your
risk of developing osteoporosis, and
helps you sleep better and longer. It
will also interest you to know that our
bodies naturally lose muscle mass by
the time we are in our mid-thirties
as part of a process called sarcope-
nia. This gradual drop in muscle mass
is said to increase the body’s blood li-
pid levels and body fat, leading to in-
creased susceptibility to obesity, heart
disease and Type 2 diabetes. Weight
training helps to slow down the process
of sarcopenia and thus cuts the risk of
developing these diseases.
Go for press ups:
Press ups work both your lower and
upper body as it requires you to sup-
port and lift your own body weight.
This is especially good for men, as it
helps to get rid of men boobs which
start to show up around age forty if you
do not have a regular exercise regimen.
Press ups are good for women aged
forty also, because this is when muffin
tops usually appear. Dwindling levels
of oestrogen at this point causes the
body to use starches and blood sugars
much less efficiently, and increases the
laying down of fat around the waist-
line. Press ups deals effectively with
both man boobs and muffin tops.
Go the healthy eating route:
No fitness article is complete without
mentioning that the right diet is im-
portant, so we mention it here again;
exercise and the right diet are the two
cornerstones of healthy living. And
this becomes even truer as you clock
40 and advance in age. As the body’s
metabolism slows around age 40, it
is time to say goodbye to the days of
gorging without gaining weight. After
40, eating fewer calories can boost the
health, as long as you ensure that you
are getting adequate fluids and fib-
er. Decrease your caloric intake from
sweets and processed foods and gain
them instead from meals that have a
high fiber, high protein and low carb
content. So, you need to make sure
that daily eating plan consists of nutri-
ent-dense food, such as lean protein,
vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy and
whole grains.
Make turmeric your best
friend:
Curcumin, the active component
of turmeric positively influences a
normal inflammatory response, so
adding turmeric to your cooking can
only generate positive results. Tur-
meric contains bioactive compounds
that have powerful medicinal prop-
erties, is a natural anti-inflammatory
compound, improves brain function,
significantly lowers the risk of brain
diseases, increases the antioxidant ca-
pacity of the body, as well as lowers the
risk of heart disease. Curcumin is also
reportedly beneficial in both the pre-
vention and treatment of Alzheimer’s
disease.
Go the healthy eating route:
No fitness article is complete with-
out mentioning that the right diet
is important, so we mention it here
again; exercise and the right diet are
the two cornerstones of healthy living.
And this becomes even truer as you
clock 40 and advance in age. As the
body’s metabolism slows around age
40, it is time to say goodbye to the days
of gorging without gaining weight. Af-
ter 40, eating fewer calories can boost
the health, as long as you ensure that
you are getting adequate fluids and fib-
er. Decrease your caloric intake from
sweets and processed foods and gain
them instead from meals that have a
high fiber, high protein and low carb
content. So, you need to make sure
that daily eating plan consists of nu-
trient-dense food, such as lean pro-
tein, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy
and whole grains.